This is awesome!
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D26 still has 5 RD apps that need to go in. She has one EA acceptance, two more EA decisions probably in January, but neither of those will be decisive. The bulk of her decisions will be in late March, so no college decisions in my house until late April. We envision going to 2-4 admitted students days in April to help her decide if all goes well.
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I suspect the same will happen in our house -visits in April to the most likely options.
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We started our Christmas traditions the weekend after Thanksgiving. My daughter and I have gone to the local production of the nutcracker every year (except Covid year of course) since she was 4! And we buy a new nutcracker every time, so we have quite the collection now.
We’ll do our traditional pajama exchange on Christmas Eve, cinnamon buns and mimosas on Christmas morning followed by gifts, and then a really nice meal just me, husband, and the two girls.
keeping it simple!
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I do feel there is something special about siblings being away at school together.
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PJs all day sounds lovely - and well deserved!
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I haven’t been on this thread in ages…mostly due to significant family changes in the last 6 months. DH and I separated and he moved out while D26 stayed with me. It was a shock for me, but honestly after getting over the initial surprise and hurt, I do think it’s for the best. However, it will make D26’s college costs slightly less affordable (for D22, we rely on her merit scholarship and pay the rest as we go–never set up a college fund for various reasons). Hoping we will be able to afford D26’s top choice, which for now is University of Oregon (we are OOS). No acceptance yet, but she is almost certain to get in.
She has two EA acceptances already:
Oregon State (with WUE!)
University of Puget Sound (with a generous merit scholarship)
Even though we are in CA she refused to apply to any CA publics, to my dismay.
She is waiting on ~6 (my memory is faulty) other EA schools but neither of us is stressing. She’d be happy with OSU or UPS.
Congrats to those who got their ED choices!
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Congrats on the acceptances. So sorry to bear about the other domestic developments- sending hugs and wishing the best for you.
Congrats to her so far. Sorry to hear about the family situation- that’s tough. Hopefully it all works out with her college options 
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DH and I don’t have any siblings, so his mom and my parents started coming to visit us since we got married – and they usually stayed with us for the week. My parents stopped coming a few years back as they aren’t well enough to travel, so we usually go to visit them after Christmas. But MIL still comes.
After we had kids, the tradition has become to do a nice dinner at home on Christmas Eve – usually a roast and various sides – and then we did all the fun stuff like track Santa on the NORAD site, leave milk and cookies out, sprinkle reindeer food outside, etc.
On Christmas morning, Santa would bring each kid ONE gift, unwrapped, and everything else wrapped under the tree was from us or family. I usually made some breakfast casseroles, and we’d nosh on those and eat leftovers all day. And yes, we’d all spend Christmas day in PJs just enjoying new toys or video games and hanging out. We still do this, lol.
Speaking of Santa, we have gone to see our local mall Santa since our D22’s first year on earth – and we’ve seen the same dude every year since then. He knows us all by name, and he takes the time to chat with us and give hugs. This will be our 22nd year. He’s getting up there in age, and every year I hold my breath, hoping he’s doing well. Yes, I still make my kids do it, LOL – but we make a day of it and go to lunch and hit the LEGO store, etc. I love this tradition and progression of Santa pics more than anything – I have them in framed ornaments and hang them on a second tree to display.
We stopped doing an unwrapped gift from Santa in the last few years, because the kids have started asking for “world peace” and “a girlfriend” and “I’d like to get into college, please.” 
Oh, we never got an Elf on the Shelf. First, our Tooth Fairy set the bar waaay too high when our oldest was little and started losing teeth, and no way was I going to introduce yet another obligation, lol. But more than that, when D22 was in kindergarten and her best friend’s family got an Elf, D22 said to her, “You know they sell those on an endcap at Target, right? How could you think they’re magic?”
Yes, she really said “endcap.” She also debunked Santa at age 6 or 7 – she waited for me to go away on a girls’ trip, and then she cornered my husband and said, “Okay, I have some questions. Santa? Seriously?” He proceeded to text me in a panic.
(Not to be outdone, my S25 and D26 set actual traps for the Tooth Fairy for their last few teeth. But that’s a different post. 
)
We also love doing jigsaw puzzles the week of Christmas – I buy a couple new ones every year. As soon as MIL shows up, we pull one out. Every year we’re missing a few pieces because our cats and dog are in cahoots to knock them on the floor and eat them.
Finally, the Panettone from Williams-Sonoma is something we love at Christmas. I love reading the snarky Hater’s Guide to Williams-Sonoma because some of their products are so ridiculous, but for this one, we make an exception (never mind that it has doubled in price). We have tried every other Panettone on the market, but none of them are the same. It’s the glazed chestnuts, I think.
(This guy writes the Hater’s Guide every year, and it makes me cry with laughter. This was 2012, and we are still quoting his blurb about Bourbon Cranberry Relish because D26 LIVES for the canned stuff and sound it makes when it slithers out of the can. Deadspin | The Hater's Guide To The Williams-Sonoma Catalog )
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Hope it all works out for D26. Sorry to hear about the family changes – wishing you guys well going forward!
“…still working on RD apps.” Let me make you feel better! So, D26 has applied to her ED1 school and she did indeed work very hard on that application. I’m really proud of her. HOWEVER…with regard to the RD apps there is no “still working on” because that would mean having started them in the first place, which…nope. I might as well be trying to convince our two cats to get on those supplements and the list of colleges itself. So, either we’ll be having a great Dec or a really crunched one. I am not stressed about this, amazingly enough. This is my 3rd go-round and there’s only so much I can control…
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Did any of your kids record themselves opening their admissions decision emails?
D26 refuses to check in our presence, so we will have to wait till she tells us.
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Mine received acceptances from two safeties she applied to EA, and promptly declared she is done and will not submit any RD apps period. She just cut her list down by 3 schools because she’s over it and doesn’t want to write any more essays!
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Well fingers crossed for excellent ED news and no more work!!!
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One of my S24’s did that. Got in EA to an amazing safety/target he loved and just said “that’s it!” Because he hates writing essays…great reason, eh? But, he’s about mid-way through sophomore year and doing fabulously. “Over it” just might be the key…
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Yes I think these next two weeks will bring a lot of good news for all of us!!
My D26 has gotten into her two safety’s next week Monday /Tuesday we have her two target schools releasing their decisions!! She has started her applications for her two reach schools but will finish them during the Winter Break! She may very well loose her motivation but since she is almost done the supplements I assume she will finish them!
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Christmas - When D26 was little, whatever she had asked for from Santa (one gift) was unwrapped under the tree and the rest of the gifts were wrapped and from us. Our Elf also brings a wrapped gift and letter saying goodbye until next year (we still do this!) and the gift is always a game to play. Christmas Day we make a special breakfast, but it varies. but always mimosas. After opening gifts, it’s pretty low key and then a midafternoon feast which also varies - some years lasagna/Italian style dinner and other years ham with sides.
We have not done any videos of opening the emails, but I think she wants to do it this week for the one she is hoping for. BUT I am very superstitious and since the others have been Yeses, I don’t think we should jinx things HA!
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Our big college decision week is next week – with five decisions expected – then four more at the end of January – and 2-3 possibly in March.
She was accepted last night to USF-CA for nursing with $25k/year merit. I am not sure where this one falls in her internal rankings (D keeps things very close to the vest), but its nursing program is solid, and we have family in San Fran, which is a nice little bonus. And, goodness, no videos – she would never!!!
I have been working like crazy lately and have not started any holiday prep. I predict there will be lots of impulse gift buying next week as I madly scramble to throw something together. At least my husband is the cook and baker, so he has that covered. Gift ideas for 21 and 23-year-old guys, anyone?
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